Adult participation in children's play

Here are some guidelines for playing with your child:

Enable playing, let the child design it

• for babies, this can mean setting aside one-on-one time to cuddle or talk; the baby will show initiative and start playing - by a movement, look, vocalization
• for older children, this means providing them with opportunities to freely manage their time and activities

Follow the child's interests and offer encouragement

• toys, as well as other materials for the child to  play with; these can be boxes, leaves, stones, tin and cardboard plates, old cooking pots…
• make them available so that the child can take them whenever he/she wants

Introduce something new from time to time

• it doesn't have to be a new toy at all: dress the old one differently, put it in a standing or sitting position or inside something; when you pass by it, say something - give to toy a "voice"
• offer new experiences as a source of play ideas: include the child in routines (cooking, shopping), talk about some things you see during a walk, explore a part of the city, learn more about an animal he/she likes, pick up interesting things during a walk - branches, leaves, fruits…

Respect the child's initiative and leadership

• keep in mind that play in itself makes sense to a child, even though it may seem otherwise to you
• accept the child, his/her skills, the way he/she sees the world, how he/she imagines and draws conclusion, and understand how he/she shows what interests him/her and what he/she wants to explore

Work with your child to develop play

• sometimes adults try to "fix" play or define a scenario for playing, to get a character's costume or figure or behavior "right"
• the golden rule of play is: let the child determine the behavior, plot, course and outcome of play
• do not interrupt play
• keep in mind that play is not about a goal or achievement: to make a bridge of building blocks, but rather about what happens as we try to conceive a goal and search for a way of achieving it: who wanted to build a bridge, what was the bridge made of, what was happening while the bridge was being built, who came to build the bridge
• be there for the child to name what is happening, what the child and the characters in play are doing, how they are feeling, what they are experiencing
• be a "mirror" for the child, so that he/she can check his/her ideas, change and develop them.